GRAND FORKS, N.D. – On a day when the University of North Dakota softball team honored its three seniors, the Fighting Hawks capped off a day of celebration with a 7-1 triumph over South Dakota State on Sunday afternoon at Apollo Sports Complex.
 
The win, coupled with North Dakota State's sweep over Omaha, has assured UND's (21-31, 6-9 Summit League) spot in the Summit League Softball Tournament in two weeks down in Fargo. Head Coach Jordan Stevens also earned his 100th victory at UND, becoming only the second head coach to accomplish the feat in program history.
 
In their home finale, the Fighting Hawks found themselves in trouble early. SDSU (32-14, 9-6 Summit League) put up a run in the first inning after the runner advanced to third on a stolen base and a passed ball, but UND was able to finish the side trailing by only one run. It didn't take long for the Fighting Hawks to answer, as Dani Romero drove in Jailene Carpio with an RBI single deep to the wall to quickly knot the game at 1-1 heading to the second inning.
 
The Fighting Hawks kept the bats going in the bottom of the second inning. An RBI double from Carpio scored the go-ahead run and put two runners in scoring position with only one out, causing a pitching change from SDSU. Lyndsay Hathaway was able to leg out a double from a bunt, scoring fellow senior Deja Miller and giving the Fighting Hawks a two-run lead. A wild pitch gave Carpio room to score UND's third run of the inning and extending their lead to three.
 
Adding on has always been a comment from Stevens, and his team continued to answer the bell in the bottom of the third. For the second day in a row, Lexi Mayhood took the first pitch she saw in the frame deep to give the Fighting Hawks a 5-1 lead after three. Pitcher Emily Rosas settled in nicely after a bit of a rocky start, retiring eight of the next nine batters she faced to keep the hosts in front, 5-1, moving to the bottom of the sixth.
 
In that frame, Marina Marzonlino picked no better way to end her home-hitting career at UND with a two-run blast to center field, extending UND's lead to six and causing the Jackrabbits to bring in their fourth pitcher of the day.
 
South Dakota State threatened in the seventh, but the combination of Rosas and Jannay Jones closed out the win and series victory without allowing another run.
 
North Dakota returns to action next weekend with a three-game showdown against North Dakota State in Fargo beginning on Saturday.